We live free, lively lives filled with variety

See their pride, their smiles real and wide

When what they tried works; they grow and show

what they know; prove that it’s true.

We don’t need tests; we feed the seed

Inspiration freed to become reality

I see the proof from floor to roof

Truth fills our nest; no need for a test.

Reflections…after an appointment, lunch, and a winter walk with my teen. Variety is everywhere – we just need to notice!

Variety is the spice of life…and it’s also the key to natural learning. It doesn’t work so well to unschool, if a child’s reality is just a tiny slice of all that’s possible. There needs to be diversity, and the opportunity to explore where inspiration and experience lead.

Exploring Nature, history, technology, art, and their hiking ability! Lots of variety here…but one constant is their friendship. With a whole field to occupy, they tend to still enjoy being together.

It can mean an afternoon at the Saratoga National Historical Park, walking the trails and listening to the audio tour, while chatting and taking in the view. It could be making Littlest Pet Shop videos that require the creation of tiny costumes, props, and sets. It could be learning Latin and the layout of a Roman city so that Clash of Clans makes more sense, or how bacterium spread, or what lungs feel like. It could be the state museum, or a walk at dawn, or a day at a lake.

It could be each of us in our own spaces, doing our own things, with our orbits intersecting from time to time – or not intersecting, and just living alongside one another.

Zorbing at her cousin’s party – a bouncy, bumpy kind of variety.

Whatever form it takes, variety holds immense potential for learning, and the results play out moment by moment, every day of our lives.

What kinds of variety inspire you the most?

When was the last time you sought out something different, apart from your routine?

Published by shanjeniah

I am myself. I own my life, and live with three other people who own theirs. My intention is to do only those things that bring me joy, and to give myself wholly to those things I do.
Writing has been my passion throughout my life, and this will become the home for my writing life...because it brings me great joy!
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